How to Buy Your First Home in Utah County - Utah County Real Estate Well the time has come; you are finally out making a good living.  You are beginning to get tired of paying rent, the number one advise that friends and family are giving you is, Buy a House.  By this time you are about to be hitched and have probably saved enough money for a down payment.  After a fair amount of thinking about it, you jump over the first hurdle and decide to go for it.  Now once you are focused about what you want you then jot down a list of things you want in a house.  That being done the search begins.  These days the task of sifting through hundreds of potential houses is not as hard.  With a few mouse clicks, you can see multiple house listings and take virtual tours of Utah County Homes for Sale. ... 08/09/2009

Utah County Home Inspection is Important - Utah County Real Estate Well, you just made an offer on a beautiful new home.  You are excited about the possibilities that this new home is going to bring to you and your family.  Don't let this dream turn into a nightmare because you decided not to spend a little extra money on a Home Inspection. A study conducted by the American Society of Home Inspectors and the NAR in 2001 found that 77% of all homebuyers insisted on a Home Inspection prior to purchasing their property, and 97% of that group believes the service was a good value for the price. Next to the financial contingency in the Real Estate Purchase Contract, the Home Inspection is the most reason you need to consider before purchasing the home.  This is where you have the right to ba... 08/06/2009

Utah County "Buyer's Market" Are you a present Utah County Home Buyer Candidate? How you been waiting for the perfect time to buy a home? Well your time is now, at no other time in recent memory has the real estate market been at a point where you had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. As a full-time Utah County Home Buyer Representative, I too like this kind of Utah County Home Buyer market. There are so many opportunities out there for my clients that I feel like a little kid in a candy store. A Utah County Home Buyer market comes at a time when the supply of homes for sale exceeds the demand to buy those homes. The Utah County Home Buyer market can be a great opportunity to not only negotiate the price of a new home you want to buy, but it can also be a time for great interest ... 07/24/2009

Buying your first home?  , maybe your second, well this can be a wonderful experience for you or this could be a disaster.  It all depends on how prepared you are when the process starts.  Your first step is getting Pre-Approved. Financing a home can be a difficult process for you, especially finding the right loan.  What you need to be concerned about is not getting the financing, but getting the right financing.  You will want to find the best terms at the lowest cost.  You will want to meet with a loan officer to review your financing options;  you will need to meet with a lender who can explain all of the different types of loans that you will be able to afford as well as the program that will help you meet your goals.  Once you determine with the lender how much you can afford, you... 07/10/2009

Eagle Mountain experienced one of the larger increases in the county and sold 26 more homes than what sold during the second quarter of 2008.  Consequently, both median and average sold price took a big drop from the 200's to the 100's.  Active Eagle Mountain Real Estate listings are numbered at 288 with 7 months of inventory. 07/08/2009

The time to consider a Short Sale is when your Mortgage is considered to be in default, one or more payments have been missed.  There are a number of solutions available to remedy the situation: ·         Short Sale/Payoff ·         Forbearance agreement ·         Loan Modification ·         Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure A Short Sale occurs when a borrower sells their property for an amount that is less than the amount owed to the lender.  To qualify for assistance the borrower needs to prove that they are experiencing a substantial financial hardship.  A hardship is a situation that has life changing effect for the borrower that results in an in-ability to pay the mortgage debt in either, short or long term: ·         Separation or Divorce ·         Medical Bills ·         Inability to w... 06/22/2009

There are certainly some advantages and disadvantages to renting versus owning your own home.  When you rent, you are normally limited on what you can do to improve your home.  You have to get permission to make changes or improvement to the home.  It really doesn't make sense to paint, put in new carpet, tile or window coverings when the main person who benefits is the landlord.  The landlord wants to keep expenses to a minimum and will probably not be spending much to improve the property as well.  When you own the home you do pretty much whatever you want to.  You get the benefit of any improvements you make.  You can really make your home a home. Search Utah MLS Utah County Homes AMP Mortgage Xpress Orem Real Estate Provo Orem Homes Provo Real Estate Utah Realtor Utah Homes Utah Hom... 06/19/2009

When it comes time to sell your home, one big decision needs to be made.  Can I sell my home by myself or should I use a Realtor?  Everybody wants to make as much money as they can when it comes time to sell their home, but it is necessary to maintain realistic expectations if there is to be a successful sale transaction.  The For Sale by Owner option is often perceived to be best way to make the highest profit when selling a home.  In theory, that makes a lot of sense, but there are so many variables that the results usually come out the opposite.  In fact, statistics from the National Association of Realtors report that only 16 % of those who listed their home For Sale by Owner, were successful in selling their home.  The main drawbacks can be divided into two main categories, Buyer P... 06/17/2009

One of the most accessible sources of comparable sales is the public record.  When someone buys a home the property is deeded from the seller to the buyer.  In most circumstances, this deed is recorded at the local county recorder's office.  They combine sales data with information already known about the property so they can assess property taxes correctly. Accessing the data can be somewhat difficult for the general public.  Realtors gain access through title insurance companies.  The title companies either compile the data directly from the county recorder's office or purchase it from other companies.  One problem with the public record is that it tends to run a little behind.  By the time the consumer is able to access the information it has generally been 10 to 14 weeks since the f... 06/12/2009

The Lockbox is a very important component of the Listing Package when it comes time to have your home listed for sale.  A lockbox is a padlock with a cavity inside where a key to your home can be placed.  Only someone with an electronic key or the combination can get into the lockbox and access the key.  Having a lockbox available at your house makes it easy for other agents to gain access to your house.  Without the lockbox, agents representing buyers would have to set appointments to meet you or your agent at the house so they could gain access and view the home.  This would be inconvenient.  Since almost every other house does have a lockbox available, if you do not allow one most agents will simply not show your property.  You will miss out on lots of potential buyers.  The listing ... 06/09/2009

As a Loan Officer here in Utah County, I have found that many consumers don't fully understand the term Annual Percentage Rate.  Probably no other disclosure is as baffling to the average consumer as APR is.  Few understand how the APR can be higher than the interest rate.  The APR is the finance charge expressed as a numerical percentage, which is an expression of the annualized finance charge.  The APR includes the interest rate plus all of those items that are included in the finance charge. Although few mortgage lenders actually do it, lenders are required to disclose the APR when inquiries are made orally.  The APR also has to be fully disclosed on any advertising materials.  Search Utah MLS Utah County Homes AMP Mortgage Xpress Orem Real Estate Provo Orem Homes Provo Real Estate U... 05/29/2009

We need Positive Price Action to confirm market bottom.  One month of price improve isn't sufficient to confirm the market bottom.  We need to see appreciation month over month for three months. PRICE ACTION   Other good signs in addition to positive price action is lower DOM (days of the market), lower new listings and higher percent of new listings being SOLD.    SUMMARY Currently we are not seeing the needed positive price action (along with other indicators) to confirm a market bottom.  This is NOT a good time for those with low and/or no risk tolerance to purchase.  High and medium risk tolerant investors are making buying decisions and are doing some bottom fishing.  Some are trying to time the market and market timing is risky.  Trying to time the bottom is not for the inexperien... 05/28/2009

First-Time Home Buyer is considered to be someone who has not had an ownership interest in a home for 3 years or more.  Some home loan guidelines are longer than that.  There are many Down Payment Assistance grants, low interest loans and credit assistance programs available for First Time Home Buyers.  First Time Home Buyers should consult a Mortgage and Real Estate Professional early in the home buying process to learn all they need to know about is available to them. Several criteria are considered when evaluating the loan programs for First Time Home Buyers, Credit History, Income vs. Debt, and equity or investment in the subject property being the most important. Search Utah MLS Utah County Homes AMP Mortgage Xpress Orem Real Estate Provo Orem Homes Provo Real Estate Utah Realtor U... 05/12/2009

When it comes to buying a home, there are two essential people you will work with during the process. These individuals are your Realtor and your mortgage loan officer. As important as these people are to your home purchase and investment, you will want to find the very best Realtor and Loan Officer for your situation. The following are some tips to helping you make wise decisions in the selection process. Choosing the Right Realtor You may be wondering if you really need to hire a Realtor at all, right? You may feel like you could save yourself the commission fee by skipping the Realtor. This may be true, if you have the time, knowledge, and experience behind you to do all the searching yourself. There are many benefits to finding a good Realtor though. Buying a home involves so much l... 04/26/2009

Eagle Mountain homes sold saw a small drop of just under 5%.  Sold prices on the other hand saw a decline of around 13%, bringing prices from the lower 200s to the upper 100s.  391 homes in Eagle Mountain are actively listed and 13.8 months of inventory continues to make it a buyers market.   04/22/2009

With the present Real Estate market in turmoil and many home owners are having a hard time trying to sell their home, because they owe more than it is worth.  I keep getting the question from my buyers about what is a Short Sale and how does it work?  Well I will try and address that question here.  I hope I am accurate, I am sure I will hear about it if I am not. What is a Short Sale? A Short Sale occurs when a property sells for a price that is insufficient to pay back the loans secured by the property (or any other liens against the property, such as delinquent property taxes, Homeowners/Condominium Association fees, etc.), as well as standard sales closing costs.  In order to complete such a sale, the Seller must either: Come to the closing with sufficient cash from other sources to... 04/22/2009

If you have chosen to go through a mortgage broker for your next home loan, you expect them to come up with the best possible deal for your situation. After all, that is the self-stated goal of mortgage brokers. They are the middlemen who try to match up the needs of borrowers with the loan products of mortgage lenders. Because they typically contract with several different lenders, they often have more loan options to offer borrowers. Mortgage brokers, just like any other business segment, are looking for a profit. Your satisfaction alone does not pay their bills. For this reason, you may find some mortgage brokers who will charge you brokerage fees for their services. In some cases you may even find brokers who are more interested in selling you certain loans because they will net the... 04/16/2009

Many homeowners start off in a mortgage home loan that is less than ideal. They may have had bad credit and were forced to accept a higher interest rate and fees. Or maybe they just decided to buy when market rates were peaking. Fortunately for these types of borrowers and others with pricey loans, there is a way to get into a new loan with better terms. It is called refinancing. Refinancing means the creation of a new home mortgage loan that will completely pay off your first loan. Some homeowners will do this just to get into a mortgage with a lower interest rate. Others will take advantage of lower interest rates while also getting a loan large enough to pull some extra cash out for other financial needs. Some will refinance into a shorter term loan, like from a 30-year to a 15-year ... 04/11/2009

If you are in the market for a new home, now is both the worst of times and the best of times for home buyers. It is ideal because there is an oversupply of homes on the market, the national median home price is declining and there are plenty of motivated homeowners and builders. It is at the same time a difficult buying market as there is a shrinking pool of available financing for mortgage borrowers, especially those with less than perfect credit. If you are able to qualify for home loan funding, there are still a few things you should do in order to make the most of the current buyer-s market. Use Your Bargaining PowerBecause it is a buyer's market, you have immense bargaining power to negotiate for a great deal. If you are working with a builder, you have the power to ask for both a... 04/05/2009

Buying a home anytime is a big deal, but buying your first home can be quite overwhelming.  This article was written to make you aware of a few things that first time buyers should know. First of all, realize that the old adage is true; location is the most important thing.  Start by choosing an area you like, in a good neighborhood, with a home that suits your present and future needs, and then you can get started on the details. The important things to consider are listed below: Your Financial Situation and Plans for the Future: Evaluate the price of the rent you currently pay so that you will be able to compare that with all the costs of buying and owning a home.  One of the most important things to do is count your savings and see if you really have enough to cover the down payment ... 04/01/2009